Hey! Colchester itself is cute, very much a town feel as in quite fast to get around but very pretty! However, as it is an army town there are certain areas in particular where I would say it's not safe such as Greenstead. However where the university is located in Wivenhoe is safe and the city centre is aswell- if you are a girl though I wouldn't recommend going clubbing in town by yourself. I'm at Essex now and love it though so would really recommend coming next year! Good luck x

To add some further points to what emmy_xo140899 has said, I also like Colchester. The size of the town is convenient, big enough to have everything you could ask for as a student, yet small enough to travel around relatively easily (e.g. it takes me less than half an hour to get from the uni to the town centre by bus). There are large supermarkets with loads of affordable buys, like Aldi, Asda, or Tesco (which is also in a great distance from the Uni campus, about a 15-min walk) or some other good stores at which you can stock up on the student essentials (Wilko, Poundland, Primark for some stuff). If you have some spare bucks, the town centre has lots of places to shop for fashion and entertainment (Debenhams, Topshop, HMV, Primark as already mentioned, countless others). Or, if you feel like eating out, you have many restaurants of many types to choose from, my personal favourite is Bambu Vietnamese (it's a bit harsh on my student budget but once in a time, it's so worth it, I love Vietnamese cuisine and they sure know how to cook it). For clubbing, if you're interested (personally, I'm not too into it), I hear that many people go to Atik for example.

That's a bit about the city, however, as you're considering the Uni, I'd like to mention the campus, too. It's almost like a small town or village, so if you didn't want to leave it, you wouldn't really have to. It has stores, restaurants, cafés, clubs, and bars; what's more, there's also a post office, two bank branches, a bookshop, a cultural space, and every Thursday, a market where you can buy fresh bakery and produce among others. Furthermore, if you happen to like cats, we have a campus cat too. His name is Pebbles and he's really adorable He's loved by the students so much that he has inspired some merch at the campus shop. Overall, the environment of the Uni is really lovely, and I would definitely recommend to see it for yourself during an Open Day if you can go to one. I love the buzz and the atmosphere and the people here are awesome – I have friends from many corners around the world, which feels incredible.

In regards to safety, I feel very safe around the campus, because it's mainly composed of students. In town, I would apply basic, common-sense rules for safety (don't walk around alone in night, avoid scarcely-lit roads), and then it should be fine.

Hope this helps! I wanted to give you a detailed answer so you could make the best picture of life in Colchester as a University of Essex student. In case you still have any questions, feel free to ask!

Everywhere is very affordable. People saying Greenstead isn't safe are scaremongering. Sure it isn't the poshest bit of town but I live there and it's totally fine. The town is nice to live in, the campus is great. It really is a town not a city though. Not that big, 1 club on campus 1 in town. Plenty of shops bars and restaurants to keep you occupied.